Hope you have gained some insight from reading about my experiences in the Wisconsin Experience Seminar! I have enjoyed taking this class and have definitely benefited from it. It has created a smooth transition from high school to college for me.
College is definitely a different world from high school, but I feel comfortable in it and love being here. It is difficult, and adjustments have had to be made, but it's all worth it for the college experiences that I will take with me. Taking this course has made it a little easier for me--I feel better prepared for my future classes, and I feel more comfortable with an array of different topics than I was prior to the class.
I've learned that understanding myself, who I am, where I'm going, and how I'm going to get there are unbelievably important, along with understanding who is surrounding me and how that's going to affect me. Being aware, overall, is going to help me succeed with fewer difficulties along the way. Significant learning was definitely achieved, and I am happy to have been able to share it with you!
Thanks for following along!
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Past Experiences & My Classmates
On a particular day in class, we recognized how different our life experiences are, and how we all come from different backgrounds. It was something I never really thought about other students...what their ethnicity was and how it affected their life, their family's level of income, where they live, etc. After completing an activity, (can't remember the name) where we stepped forward or backward if certain statements applied to us, I realized that when comparing how privileged I am to others, I was actually in the middle of the pack. I say "actually" because this was somewhat of a surprise to me. I live in a nice suburban house, I'm white, and even went to private school for a few years. However, my parents don't have 'professional' careers, among other factors, and therefore I was privileged at a median level compared to my peers.
This was an interesting activity, and it put in perspective the different backgrounds that people come from. There truly is an impeccable amount of diversity surrounding us college students, and it is important to know that it affects, or perhaps improves, how we work together and interact.
I look forward to learning more about all the different people surrounding me, and I hope that throughout my college career, they will teach me things I would have otherwise not known.
Diversity definitely enriches the college experience. So far, I think diversity has impacted my tolerance and acceptance of others in a positive way. I am thankful for this and hope it continues.
Not only have different kinds of people enriched my college experience thus far, but so have my fellow seminar classmates. Unlike my other classes, the Wisconsin Experience seminar allows me to be surrounded by students in the exact same position as me. Even though we all come from different places and with different experiences, we all want the same thing--to succeed.
It is extremely nice to be involved in this group of students for the supportive aspect. I have made a couple good friends in the class that I hope to stay friends with during college. It is comforting to know that everyone is in the same boat as you, and it is nice to converse about similar questions we all have. My classmates have made my transition to college smooth and comfortable--I appreciate being a part of this group!
This was an interesting activity, and it put in perspective the different backgrounds that people come from. There truly is an impeccable amount of diversity surrounding us college students, and it is important to know that it affects, or perhaps improves, how we work together and interact.
I look forward to learning more about all the different people surrounding me, and I hope that throughout my college career, they will teach me things I would have otherwise not known.
Diversity definitely enriches the college experience. So far, I think diversity has impacted my tolerance and acceptance of others in a positive way. I am thankful for this and hope it continues.
Not only have different kinds of people enriched my college experience thus far, but so have my fellow seminar classmates. Unlike my other classes, the Wisconsin Experience seminar allows me to be surrounded by students in the exact same position as me. Even though we all come from different places and with different experiences, we all want the same thing--to succeed.
It is extremely nice to be involved in this group of students for the supportive aspect. I have made a couple good friends in the class that I hope to stay friends with during college. It is comforting to know that everyone is in the same boat as you, and it is nice to converse about similar questions we all have. My classmates have made my transition to college smooth and comfortable--I appreciate being a part of this group!
Other Relevant Tidbits
Throughout the semester, I did a lot more than figure out what my learning style is. I would like to touch on some of the other ideas and topics we discussed that stood out to me.
UW-Madison possesses an admirable quality which makes it unique from other universities--it is a research institution. When I first knew of this, I thought it would mean that the university is using students to do research for them, and we as students would be paying tuition to do research. I found out that this is not the case, and research is in fact something that makes our university special and is an unbelievable opportunity for students to partake in.
It didn't work out for me this semester, but I would love to be able to participate in research maybe next year. It is an incredible opportunity that not many students get to take advantage of, but I would love to be a part of it.
During a separate class period, we discussed our identities, and made a "grub box" by creating a collage with different aspects about us on it. I think it is important to understand yourself, because if you don't, how can other people understand you? You first need to know who you are before you can decide where to go and who to be around and how you are going to get there. College helps you find yourself, and doing so will allow one to be much more successful. I am currently trying to figure out who I am and who I want to be...I have been getting closer, but this is definitely a complex idea that takes awhile to develop an ending solution!
Prior to a specific class period, I didn't understand what a liberal education was. I now know that it can somewhat be described as "well-rounded". Being a liberally educated individual means you have explored all different areas of academics, allowing you to be comprehensive in many areas and understand infinite aspects about the world around you. You can take away information from many different reading sources, and you can make a conversation with anyone. You are interested in what other people have to say, and want to know about the person you're conversing with. You spend time in thought, and are able to write clearly and effectively.
We discussed how many students, freshman especially, don't understand the value of a liberal education at first. Sometimes while taking a class that doesn't directly apply to your major, students may feel frustrated when they aren't doing well because they feel it doesn't matter. Even during my Econ class, I have sometimes felt annoyed about material I had to learn because I didn't understand how it was going to help me become a pharmacist. However, I am realizing that every class is important; whether it teaches you a different skill or gives you new knowledge, it definitely improves your college experience in some way, shape or form.
UW-Madison possesses an admirable quality which makes it unique from other universities--it is a research institution. When I first knew of this, I thought it would mean that the university is using students to do research for them, and we as students would be paying tuition to do research. I found out that this is not the case, and research is in fact something that makes our university special and is an unbelievable opportunity for students to partake in.
It didn't work out for me this semester, but I would love to be able to participate in research maybe next year. It is an incredible opportunity that not many students get to take advantage of, but I would love to be a part of it.
During a separate class period, we discussed our identities, and made a "grub box" by creating a collage with different aspects about us on it. I think it is important to understand yourself, because if you don't, how can other people understand you? You first need to know who you are before you can decide where to go and who to be around and how you are going to get there. College helps you find yourself, and doing so will allow one to be much more successful. I am currently trying to figure out who I am and who I want to be...I have been getting closer, but this is definitely a complex idea that takes awhile to develop an ending solution!
Prior to a specific class period, I didn't understand what a liberal education was. I now know that it can somewhat be described as "well-rounded". Being a liberally educated individual means you have explored all different areas of academics, allowing you to be comprehensive in many areas and understand infinite aspects about the world around you. You can take away information from many different reading sources, and you can make a conversation with anyone. You are interested in what other people have to say, and want to know about the person you're conversing with. You spend time in thought, and are able to write clearly and effectively.
We discussed how many students, freshman especially, don't understand the value of a liberal education at first. Sometimes while taking a class that doesn't directly apply to your major, students may feel frustrated when they aren't doing well because they feel it doesn't matter. Even during my Econ class, I have sometimes felt annoyed about material I had to learn because I didn't understand how it was going to help me become a pharmacist. However, I am realizing that every class is important; whether it teaches you a different skill or gives you new knowledge, it definitely improves your college experience in some way, shape or form.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Visual-Aural-Read/Write-Kinesthetic
The VARK Questionnaire consists of questions asking about how you would behave in certain situations. Depending how the questions are answered, individuals can be categorized into different types of learners with specific learning styles.
I concluded the questionnaire by recognizing that I am an aural and kinesthetic learner, contrary to what I had previously thought. According to the test, I learn best by reading my notes out loud and talking about the material with peers, and using all of my senses to learn--along with "learning by doing". This was an interesting concept to me, taking into account that I quickly realized I had spent most of the semester reading the book and taking notes on the material.
Almost immediately after taking the test, I noticed that I seem to learn things better when I do practice problems--actually applying the material. A good example: I often visit my organic chemistry professor's office hours. She allows us to write on a chalkboard the mechanisms for many reactions, and after writing them down and having her talk through them with me, I seem to understand easily and never forget it.
Taking the VARK Questionnaire opened up my eyes to the type of learner I am. Since completing the inventory, I have spent less time reading and writing and more time working on problems from the book. I feel like this has helped me, and will only increase my ability to learn now and in the future.
I've always been told that it is important to know your learning style, but now I truly understand how important it is. Knowing how you learn allows you to study efficiently instead of wasting time not learning. I have wasted way too much time this semester, and hope to limit my non-efficient studying next semester and throughout my college years!
I concluded the questionnaire by recognizing that I am an aural and kinesthetic learner, contrary to what I had previously thought. According to the test, I learn best by reading my notes out loud and talking about the material with peers, and using all of my senses to learn--along with "learning by doing". This was an interesting concept to me, taking into account that I quickly realized I had spent most of the semester reading the book and taking notes on the material.
Almost immediately after taking the test, I noticed that I seem to learn things better when I do practice problems--actually applying the material. A good example: I often visit my organic chemistry professor's office hours. She allows us to write on a chalkboard the mechanisms for many reactions, and after writing them down and having her talk through them with me, I seem to understand easily and never forget it.
Taking the VARK Questionnaire opened up my eyes to the type of learner I am. Since completing the inventory, I have spent less time reading and writing and more time working on problems from the book. I feel like this has helped me, and will only increase my ability to learn now and in the future.
I've always been told that it is important to know your learning style, but now I truly understand how important it is. Knowing how you learn allows you to study efficiently instead of wasting time not learning. I have wasted way too much time this semester, and hope to limit my non-efficient studying next semester and throughout my college years!
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
The Color Inventory: I'm Golden!
That's right. The Color Inventory says I'm golden!
Upon ranking groupings of words that I felt best described me, I discovered that my primary color is gold according to the personality/learning style inventory. Some words that describe me:
Parental, traditional, sensible, dependable, loyal, organized, cooperative, concerned, orderly, caring, strong work ethic, compelled to be bound and obligated, list maker, detailed oriented.
The description of "gold" was very interesting. A chunky paragraph expressed a gold individual to be practical, organized, dependable, and honest among other things. The beginning and ending sentences really seemed to nail 'me' right on the head. They are as follows:
"What makes me feel best is being able to create and maintain stability and structure...I need to be valued by others as loyal, productive, consistent, persevering, honest, responsible, a hard worker, a model citizen, and a valuable family member. It really bothers me when people display behavior that I feel is immoral. But want to plan ahead and get organized? Talk to me, because I'm the expert."
While I realize the previous statements actually made up about half of the "gold" description paragraph, I think that it is really hard to replicate what the inventory said because I agree with everything so strongly! I have a few examples to support some of the information I provided. I am most definitely a planner, and love to have everything extremely organized. Just take a look at my desk! The following is a picture I took of my desk at the beginning of the year to show off my dorm room on Facebook. And it honestly still looks exactly the same!
In addition, I love making lists. I make lists and write down everything--without my planner, I would be so lost. I've even gone to the extent of, the night before, writing out my entire next day by the hour with everything I will be doing. By doing this, I feel like I am able to be more productive and waste less time. I'm definitely not perfect, but lists help me an awful lot. Through this picture, my lists, and my planning abilities, it is obvious that I need to be predictable, organized, and responsible. This is how I maintain stability and structure in all areas of my life.
What other people think of me is important. I try to only sign up for events when I know I can attend. I make sure that when I commit to something, I follow through with it and do my best to be there and participate fully.
I am worried about other people, and want to help them and look out for them when I can. For instance, there is a particular friend I have that comes to mind in this situation. She is in ROTC for the Air Force as a freshman here at UW-Madison, and every Tuesday she has to dress up in her uniform. Granted I may have done this to get in a study break, but I have, on more than one occasion, gone into her room and offered to iron her shirt to make sure it is in the expected perfect condition that it needs to be. In addition, she was sick/not feeling well this past weekend. I went into her room (which is just across the hall) to see what's up, and asked if she wanted to go grab some dinner because I figured she needed to eat something substantial and get out of her bed. While we were eating, she thanked me for making sure she ate. I found it hilarious as she jokingly said things like, "Thanks, mom!" but I feel this is a good example of simple acts of caring that I perform.
As soon as I read the description for "gold" I agreed with every single thing it said. It was quite surprising. It allowed me to learn a lot about myself and recognize qualities that I have. I would also like to mention that my secondary color was blue; blue individuals are "intuitive feeling people and above all, they must be authentic". I realized that I do enjoy sharing my feelings and listening to others' feelings/expressions. Communication is something I value, and I believe that it is more important than many of us recognize.
So what does this color inventory mean for me? What did I learn from it?
Well, I learned a lot about myself and the kind of person I am. I never realized how important it is to understand yourself, and how you operate. Recognizing that I am an organized, predictable, traditional person has made me feel okay with that. Before I maybe felt like that was boring, but I don't think having these qualities makes you a boring person. I now seem more motivated to embrace these qualities in myself and use them to my advantage. This especially comes into play when I move towards my next post, which is going to focus on what I learned from the VARK Questionnaire. By embracing the positive qualities I possess, I will be able to succeed at what I am interested in succeeding in, and use what I have to my advantage to be productive--and ultimately, a productive member of society.
Stay tuned!
Upon ranking groupings of words that I felt best described me, I discovered that my primary color is gold according to the personality/learning style inventory. Some words that describe me:
Parental, traditional, sensible, dependable, loyal, organized, cooperative, concerned, orderly, caring, strong work ethic, compelled to be bound and obligated, list maker, detailed oriented.
The description of "gold" was very interesting. A chunky paragraph expressed a gold individual to be practical, organized, dependable, and honest among other things. The beginning and ending sentences really seemed to nail 'me' right on the head. They are as follows:
"What makes me feel best is being able to create and maintain stability and structure...I need to be valued by others as loyal, productive, consistent, persevering, honest, responsible, a hard worker, a model citizen, and a valuable family member. It really bothers me when people display behavior that I feel is immoral. But want to plan ahead and get organized? Talk to me, because I'm the expert."
While I realize the previous statements actually made up about half of the "gold" description paragraph, I think that it is really hard to replicate what the inventory said because I agree with everything so strongly! I have a few examples to support some of the information I provided. I am most definitely a planner, and love to have everything extremely organized. Just take a look at my desk! The following is a picture I took of my desk at the beginning of the year to show off my dorm room on Facebook. And it honestly still looks exactly the same!
In addition, I love making lists. I make lists and write down everything--without my planner, I would be so lost. I've even gone to the extent of, the night before, writing out my entire next day by the hour with everything I will be doing. By doing this, I feel like I am able to be more productive and waste less time. I'm definitely not perfect, but lists help me an awful lot. Through this picture, my lists, and my planning abilities, it is obvious that I need to be predictable, organized, and responsible. This is how I maintain stability and structure in all areas of my life.
What other people think of me is important. I try to only sign up for events when I know I can attend. I make sure that when I commit to something, I follow through with it and do my best to be there and participate fully.
I am worried about other people, and want to help them and look out for them when I can. For instance, there is a particular friend I have that comes to mind in this situation. She is in ROTC for the Air Force as a freshman here at UW-Madison, and every Tuesday she has to dress up in her uniform. Granted I may have done this to get in a study break, but I have, on more than one occasion, gone into her room and offered to iron her shirt to make sure it is in the expected perfect condition that it needs to be. In addition, she was sick/not feeling well this past weekend. I went into her room (which is just across the hall) to see what's up, and asked if she wanted to go grab some dinner because I figured she needed to eat something substantial and get out of her bed. While we were eating, she thanked me for making sure she ate. I found it hilarious as she jokingly said things like, "Thanks, mom!" but I feel this is a good example of simple acts of caring that I perform.
As soon as I read the description for "gold" I agreed with every single thing it said. It was quite surprising. It allowed me to learn a lot about myself and recognize qualities that I have. I would also like to mention that my secondary color was blue; blue individuals are "intuitive feeling people and above all, they must be authentic". I realized that I do enjoy sharing my feelings and listening to others' feelings/expressions. Communication is something I value, and I believe that it is more important than many of us recognize.
So what does this color inventory mean for me? What did I learn from it?
Well, I learned a lot about myself and the kind of person I am. I never realized how important it is to understand yourself, and how you operate. Recognizing that I am an organized, predictable, traditional person has made me feel okay with that. Before I maybe felt like that was boring, but I don't think having these qualities makes you a boring person. I now seem more motivated to embrace these qualities in myself and use them to my advantage. This especially comes into play when I move towards my next post, which is going to focus on what I learned from the VARK Questionnaire. By embracing the positive qualities I possess, I will be able to succeed at what I am interested in succeeding in, and use what I have to my advantage to be productive--and ultimately, a productive member of society.
Stay tuned!
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Exploration
Since being in college, I have been constantly told to get the most out of my college experience and take in as much as I can. Whether it be knowledge, diversity, or fun, I am trying to take advantage of UW-Madison as much as possible. In addition, it is important for us to be well-rounded and have a range of experiences.
Part of the Wisconsin Idea is to go out into the community and have a positive effect on society, by helping it to grow and improve using what we have learned at this university.
Part of being able to impact the world around you is becoming an extremely educated individual; you should be able to use critical thinking skills and problem solve. In order to acquire a great amount of knowledge and information, the student must have a good grasp on their learning style.
This is something I did not have a good grasp on.
However, during a particular class period, we evaluated our learning styles and figured out what they were. We completed two activities/inventories:
Part of the Wisconsin Idea is to go out into the community and have a positive effect on society, by helping it to grow and improve using what we have learned at this university.
Part of being able to impact the world around you is becoming an extremely educated individual; you should be able to use critical thinking skills and problem solve. In order to acquire a great amount of knowledge and information, the student must have a good grasp on their learning style.
This is something I did not have a good grasp on.
However, during a particular class period, we evaluated our learning styles and figured out what they were. We completed two activities/inventories:
- Color Inventory
- The VARK Questionnaire
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Introduction
Hey everybody!
For my CP 125 Seminar, "The Wisconsin Experience," I have been assigned to complete a Significant Learning Project. I have chosen to discuss what I discovered about my learning styles. During the November 1st class meeting, we explored our learning styles through a few activities/inventories. My results surprised me and I have since implemented my new knowledge into my academic life.
It is more helpful than I initially thought to be aware of your learning style. Not knowing how you learn can greatly decrease the amount of knowledge you accumulate, which will ultimately lead to a lower success level.
I want to be as successful as possible during my college career. My goal is to get accepted into the School of Pharmacy, obtain my Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D) professional degree, and become a licensed pharmacist. Since it is a very competitive program, it's important for me to do my best and succeed during my undergraduate work. Knowing how I learn will allow me to do this.
Enjoy my learning journey!
For my CP 125 Seminar, "The Wisconsin Experience," I have been assigned to complete a Significant Learning Project. I have chosen to discuss what I discovered about my learning styles. During the November 1st class meeting, we explored our learning styles through a few activities/inventories. My results surprised me and I have since implemented my new knowledge into my academic life.
It is more helpful than I initially thought to be aware of your learning style. Not knowing how you learn can greatly decrease the amount of knowledge you accumulate, which will ultimately lead to a lower success level.
I want to be as successful as possible during my college career. My goal is to get accepted into the School of Pharmacy, obtain my Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D) professional degree, and become a licensed pharmacist. Since it is a very competitive program, it's important for me to do my best and succeed during my undergraduate work. Knowing how I learn will allow me to do this.
Enjoy my learning journey!
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